Glenn Hoddle admitted he was concerned after one Tottenham Hotspur player looked nervous against West Ham last night.
Tottenham enjoyed a blistering start to last night’s London derby as they opened the scoring inside five minutes through Brennan Johnson.
Timo Werner delivered a brilliant ball across the six-yard box after getting to the byline and Johnson was there for a simple finish.
Spurs dominated the early exchanges and will be kicking themselves after allowing West Ham back into the game.
The Hammers’ goal came from a corner, with set-pieces proving to be a problem area for Tottenham this term.
Kurt Zouma headed home after being allowed far too much space in the box, with West Ham also putting players in and around Guglielmo Vicario.
And Glenn Hoddle feels the Tottenham goalkeeper just didn’t look comfortable during set-piece situations last night.
Hoddle concerned about Vicario
Speaking on TNT Sports after last night’s 1-1 draw, Hoddle raised concerns about Vicario’s ability to deal with set-pieces.
“It is a concern because then he starts to worry about it,” the Tottenham legend said. “You can tell that every time there is a corner this crowd got up anyway but you could tell it was going to be an inswinger and he doesn’t look assured.
“He doesn’t come and take the ball. If he does get there it’s a flap, he’s not composed, his body weight is on his back foot most the time, when he has got to come forward.
“This is something he has got to put right, he has got to put it right because every team that plays Tottenham now is going to put bodies in there and get what we call a cheap goal in many ways.”
Tottenham must do more to protect Vicario
Vicario has enjoyed an exceptional debut campaign in England and has arguably been one of the standout goalkeepers in the Premier League.
The 27-year-old has saved Spurs on many occasions with some eye-catching stops between the sticks. But there is no getting away from the fact that set-pieces have emerged as a weakness in his game.
The Italian shot-stopper has struggled to deal with situations where opposition players crowd around him to prevent him from claiming the ball.
We saw the likes of Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and James Maddison attempt to protect the goalkeeper last night. But Spurs will have to do more to prevent these situations in future.
Ange Postecoglou has already downplayed the possibility of bringing in a set-pieces coach when quizzed on Tottenham’s vulnerability in these situations.
But with each passing week, the case for the Aussie to reconsider his stance grows stronger.
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